About this episode
In Part 2, Erin Wakefield of Yellow Cab Medical Transport in Salem, Oregon explains why the best way to grow in NEMT is to make friends with the other providers in your area, what she asks for when the state plans its next broker contract, and why she wants Uber and Lyft held to the same credentialing standards as NEMT drivers. She covers pricing hospital discharges and out-of-area trips, why so many NEMT businesses close, why she believes you can't make money with fewer than 10 cars, and why transportation is the key to independence for the people her drivers serve.
Key takeaways
- Make friends with the other NEMT providers near you. If your driver is tied up and another company's driver is right there, the rider waiting matters more than whose trip it was.
- When the state asked which broker it should bring in next, Erin asked for accountability on all sides: providers who show up on time, carry insurance and answer for it when they don't.
- She isn't worried about Uber and Lyft taking ambulatory rides, but she wants the same credentialing, drug testing and training requirements applied to everyone.
- Build hospital discharge wait time into every rate. A $25 ride for 3 miles that waits an hour for a discharge loses money once you pay the driver.
- Price out-of-area trips with deadhead miles included. Payers that say they'll never pay those rates still call when no one else can take the trip.
- Erin's rule: nobody makes money in NEMT under 10 cars, because return trips and long trips need spare capacity and riders who wait don't call back.
Chapters
- 0:00 Cold open
- 1:02 Grow by making friends with other providers
- 1:41 Putting the rider first
- 4:29 Working with the state on the next broker contract
- 6:55 Uber, Lyft and a fair playing field on credentialing
- 10:19 Transportation is the key to independence
- 13:43 How Erin manages a 44-vehicle fleet
- 14:40 Helping other owners in Facebook groups
- 15:43 Everybody has a job in the community
- 16:49 Pricing hospital discharges
- 17:49 How she prices out-of-area trips
- 19:26 Why so many NEMT businesses go under
- 20:40 Why you can't make money under 10 cars
- 21:53 Working with Bambi
